Monthly archives for December, 2007

Wish you could have attended the 2007 conference? Don’t worry . . . the conference will come to you! The 2007 Alcor Conference DVD set is now in production and will be available soon! This 2 DVD set will include a tour of the Alcor facility AND intriguing presentations with Q&A sessions for the following conference speakers:

Clinical and Readiness
A second ice bath for the new emergency transport kits has been completed. The construction of the liner will be modified slightly before making any more, because there are ways to simplify fabrication. The latest modifications to the general design have resulted in a significant weight reduction in the ice baths, which bodes well for the portability of our overall stabilization kit design.

Membership and Marketing
On November 30, 2007, Alcor had 832 members on its Emergency Responsibility List. One membership was approved during this month, no memberships were reinstated, one membership was cancelled and no members were cryopreserved.
One hundred forty-four info packs were mailed this month, 6 were handed out during facility tours or from special request. The average total of 127 info packs sent per month in 2007 is compared to 164 in 2006.

Financial
Alcor interviewed several accounting firms and sent several bids to the Alcor Audit Committee. The board of directors accepted the committee’s recommendation that Alcor retain the firm Mayer Hoffman McCann.

New Patient
The Patient Care Trust has approved the acceptance of a new patient. The patient is brain only, and has been chemopreserved for several years. The patient is currently in cooldown to liquid nitrogen temperature. This is Alcor’s 78th patient.

It was previously reported that Alcor is designing a new integrated cardiopulmonary bypass system for its air transportable perfusion (ATP) system. During cryopreservation cases, the ATP takes over the function of the patient’s own heart and a heat exchanger in the heart-lung machine reduces the patient’s temperature to a few degrees above the freezing point of water. Blood is also replaced with an organ preservation solution that is specially designed to support life at low temperature.

This ATP design, still under evaluation, has several advantages. For instance, it uses a centrifugal pump, which is significantly safer than peristaltic pumps because they make it much more difficult to create dangerously high pressures and are much less prone to passing massive gas emboli (air bubbles).

The year 2007 is fast coming to a close, and with it the opportunity for tax deductible donations to the charities of your choice. Now is the perfect time for you to choose to make out your end-of-year donation check to the Alcor Foundation. Afterall, it is the goodwill of our small community of supporters that often makes the difference.

Can’t write a check for $5,000? Even small donations would make a difference for Alcor at this time of year. Just $100 from each one of you would significantly benefit Alcor’s general operating fund.

It is through the generous donations of our members and supporters such as you that Alcor continues to progress in the field of cryonics. Your trust, continued encouragement, and decision to donate to the Alcor Foundation are greatly appreciated. If you have any questions, feel free to call us at the toll-free number (877/462-5267 ext 101).

Aschwin de Wolf, a consultant for a number of cryonics organizations, has written a comprehensive review of human cryopreservation medications. Individual drugs currently used in cryonics protocols are extensively reviewed and, in some instances, substitutes are suggested. The article concludes by proposing general principles for human cryopreservation combinational pharmacotherapy, and specific future research directions are suggested.

More information on his findings will be reported in future issues of Cryonics Magazine. Or read the full article online now.

Are you, or someone you know, interested in learning more about Alcor and cryonics? One of the best ways to learn more is by reading Cryonics Magazine, and for a limited time you can receive a FREE 1-year trial subscription.